


Dead In The Water

by curvy_yuuri



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, I made myself sad, M/M, help these boy's don't deserve this, it's mainly Lance and Keith but the others are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 17:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10575714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curvy_yuuri/pseuds/curvy_yuuri
Summary: In textbooks, wars were something you studied. You watched documentaries and glimpse at pictures from the past and you were told to imagine what you thought it was like. You read these conflicts knowing and accepting that they are apart of history and life but, they are never what you live through. Lance, never in a million years, thought he would be living proof of wars nature. The scars both physical and mental will stay and he doesn’t think the smell of rotting corpses will go away.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic and way more angsty then I thought wow. I hope y'all enjoy!

“Captain.”

He didn’t have words. Shapeless figures graced across the plain. Here they were all equal, each body merged into the other, limbs become a single being. His ears were ringing and his body trembled as blood and tears melded together, falling from his face. How were they celebrating? He witnessed a god damn _massacre_ and they don’t even realize.

“ _Captain_.”

Lance looked up finally from his inner thoughts and looked to his men. These people who were willing to die for the cause were just as anxious as he was.

“What do we do now?” One small girl asked. She looked at him as if he was all that was left. And in reality, well, that wasn’t very far off.

Originally his force was at least 10,000 strong and in one single sweep it was degraded to around 4,000 or even less. He had to be strong, for their sake. He heard Hunk, Pidge and Allura talking nonsense on the comm. He took a breath and tries to keep his composure. Keith is somewhere to the north while he took the south point of this god forsaken planet. The others took to the atmosphere to defend from the incoming Galra. They ended up making it to Lance’s squadron. They slaughtered his men before he even had time to give Keith a warning.

In textbooks, wars were something you studied. You watched documentaries and glimpse at pictures from the past and you were told to imagine what you thought it was like. You read these conflicts knowing and accepting that they are apart of history and life but, they are never what you live through. Lance never in a million years thought he would be living proof of wars nature. The scars both physical and mental will stay and he doesn’t think the smell of rotting corpses will go away.

“We collect the bodies, tally them, make arrangements with their families and give them proper graves.”

“But sir, there’s so many and the celebration already bega-”

“We do it right or we don’t do it at all. If that was you would you rather I leave you here to be left unnamed? Would you rather I tell your family that I couldn’t find your remains because I was selfish and would rather attend a fucking party then pay my respects to the fallen? Would you like that instead?”

All was quiet once more as troops obeyed their orders. Lance stood still and watched. He watched. And he watched. Bodies were placed into rows as names were said aloud. Families weep at their beloveds. It should have been him. A captain was to put themselves over his soldiers. He was a _kid_. They all were, and yet he was given a gun and told shoot.

All of a sudden everything hit him at once. This wasn’t some fun adventure in space with a cool title. This wasn’t going to go away no matter how much they brushed it off. _This was a war._ He was a captain serving in an astronomical, catastrophical, history defying war, and he didn’t sign up for it. He was chosen. (He might as well call it drafted at this point. Then again, what was the point in anything anymore.)

Then he collapsed. He didn’t know when he tears rolled into a sob, he didn’t know what or who was decaying beneath him. But he sat, and broke down. What was once left of his humanity was gone and shed when he walked into this battlefield. Who he was became a shell and now he is numb. He can still hear the others chatting into the comm and it makes him sick. They don’t know. _They don’t know._ Dust clears and he finally gets up to help his comrades.

That’s when he sees him, with the same war stricken face and frightened eyes. That’s when he sees he isn’t the only one. Keith marched on like he’d seen a ghost. They looked at each other. For a moment nothing else was there. (Though Lance hates to admit it he was shaking just looking at Keith.)

Keith clung to Lance as if he was the last being to ever exist in the entire universe. Lance couldn’t tell if either of them were even breathing but at this point he didn’t seem to care. Then, the unexpected happened, Keith began to cry.

Lance wrapped his arms around the other boys neck and held his head so Keith wouldn't see the chaos around them. Lance placed his head atop of the smaller boy and let the tears roll. Then he heard it. It was a roaring thunder that could rip open the entire planet. Everything went dark. The sliver of sun left in the sky was gone. Both Keith and Lance’s soldiers (Keith lost about the same number of men so at the most they had 8,000) were lost puppies looking for something to do.

“Keith.”

He looked up and shook his head at Lance. Every ounce of humility was leaving both of their bodies, _fast_. Keith closed his eyes once more and when they opens again it was like staring at a stranger. He unattached himself from Lance’s grip, held his head high, and marched. His men followed almost reluctantly.

Lance watched him walk away. Apart of him wanted to stop him. Apart of him wanted to grab their lions and for them to run far away together. He knows that it's unrealistic and selfish but he can't help but think, as he watches his dreams walk away from him

“Captain, what do you want us to do?”

The way he answered even surprised himself.

“Leave the bodies, we’ll just have to collect more later. We head to the lake, do what we must, save grief for later.”

As fast as they thought the battle ended it started again. Lance looked behind him and saw the path of destruction, the decaying ripple effect of his own creation. The smell was fucking atrocious, life and death are now a blur, and every object seemed to collapse into one. No history textbook could have prepared him for this. No matter how much his great grandfather told stories of World War II, he never in a million years thought his life would come to this. (In Lance’s head he could only describe it as both World Wars combined but on an intergalactic scale. Oh, and the weapons are even more cataclysmic.)

The comms soon were buzzing as the others took to the sky again. Keith notified him he was on the other side of the lake. He sounded sane. How the hell could one person have an utter breakdown and still seem so composed?

Bodies fell around him. He couldn't tell if they were his own or the Galra fleet in front of him. He watched as swords and guns were fired and swung. This was it. This was what they mean by wars to end all wars, this is what they mean by the winner decides the course of history. He's lost track of counting kills. (He and Keith had made a bet earlier on who could get the higher kill count but, do to what they've just been through he doesn't think it matters now.) He looks across to Keith's team. His men were dropping, fast. He then made a decision that may go down as the greatest or worst depending on how it goes.

“Keith, do you copy?”

“Yeah.”

God, please let this be a good idea, not just for Lance’s sake, but for the whole universes.

“Let's merge our troops.”

_“Are you out of your fucking mind?”_

Lance new one thing was certain. If the Galra fleet kept coming in like they're doing now both the Reds and Blues will be wiped out. He also know they don't adapt well to different environments. Hence, merge the troops, hope the Galra don't take the blockades, and get them to fight in the water. He knows this is a risky call and if Shiro was down here he would never let him take such a terrifying gamble but, he isn't the one who's in charge right now, Keith is. He's also the one person Lance thinks could execute this properly.

“Do you trust me?”

“Lance what are you-”

_“Do you trust me?”_

There was a pause and a sigh.

“Yes.”

The next thing either of them knew was they were all diving. His wounds burned in the water and he knew that there was a possibility that this wasn't safe for humans to be in but he didn't really care about his body anymore.

The Galra ended up following them into water like he predicted, and many drowned. Some made their way in and tried pressing him under water. The violet hands wrapped around his throat and he felt consciousness fade. Then, there was all at once, a sword mightier than all the other impaling the soldier like it was made of sand. Red began to sink around him, he felt it on his face. His body was hoisted up until he was finally above the surface. Keith looked at him like he was looking at a mad man. (He kinda was.) They were so close. He could see every ounce of grey mixed in the amethyst of his eyes. He never wanted to leave him. He was willing to sacrifice everything right here and now for Keith.

Suddenly Keith slumped forward. _No_. Lance didn't hear the gunfire. It all was happening so fast. His men continued forward as the Galra retreated. They won the battle, and he didn't care.

Lance placed Keith on his back and swam. The water was murky and tainted in red, he pushed away the soldiers who floated around him. He got to the shoreline and gently placed the other boy down, checked for a pulse. _He was breathing_. Lance was about to sob for the second time in the 3 hours he's been here. God, why would he scare him like that? He looked down again. Keith’s eyes were grey. The was no spark, no flame, emotionless. His stupid mullet was matted and pushed away from his face. For the first time Lance truly saw his features and wow, he was laying here dying and was absolutely beautiful. (A funny thought, no?) He placed his hand on Keith’s face. Keith smiled. It was so wide Lance thought it would crack the planet in half and swallow them up whole. He had to be going through hysteria, they both must have been. Lance placed Keith's head on his lap.

A breathy laugh came from red paladin, “we won, didn't we?”

Lance swallows, “yeah, I told you it would work, but I didn't think that it would mean...it would mean,” _that it would mean I might lose you._

“I know...I know.”

Did he know? Did he know this may be his last day alive? Did he know this was Lance’s last chance to… _No, don't think like that._

They were quiet for a while, just listening to the sound of each other, alive. That was all that mattered right now. They were alive, well, holding onto life. Keith grabbed Lance’s arm to get his attention. (As if he already didn't have it.) He spoke again, voice hushed and barely audible, Lance had to lean down to hear him.

“I'm sorry.”

“For what?”

“Everything.”

Why the hell was Keith sorry? It was Lance’s own damn fault that they were in this situation in the first place. It was Lance who said that the two of them could lead the renegade, it was Lance who said it would be just like any other mission, it was Lance's idea to go into the water, it was Lance who did all the teasing, it was Lance who said he hated him for no goddamn reason besides pettiness. He was his own downfall, as well as the downfall of others.

Keith is, well, fucking incredible in Lance’s book. Everything about him never ceases to amaze Lance. He was a fuse waiting to go off when the battle needed it. He would run straight into fire, yet off the battlefield, he was a quiet storm waiting to be unraveled. His smile was rare making it more powerful.

Lance memorized every feature. Keith’s mullet was pushed back creating a halo cascading down his features. From his cheekbones to his nose everything was smooth. It was as if there was no war. Nothing could shatter the perfection that was this boy. His eyes were a muted grey as they gazed out to the unknown, lost to the world. Oh, and his lips, chapped and pinker than normal, even so, he was still a work of art. It’s funny, he lays here dying in his arms and all Lance could think about was kissing this boy. _Kissing this dying boy._ In that one sentence the world was hushed. Keith was going, and he was going out fast. Lance realized he won’t have enough time. Everything he wanted to say was bubbling forward and by the time he’d finish Keith would be gone. So he would save that for after, don’t think, do.

Lance’s mind made up it’s own path before he could even tell it otherwise. And he kissed Keith, again and again and again, not just on his lips but on every ounce of his body that he could reach. He kissed his lips, chin, neck, throat, nose, forehead, ear, the cute little freckle above his eyebrow, eyelids, that stupid mullet, knuckles, fingers, the palms of his hands and all that was in between. Lance’s eyes swelled with tears as Keith gently lifted himself to be eye level with him. Keith’s left hand stayed at his side to cover his wound and his right came up the caress Lance’s cheek. His kisses were not as urgent as Lance’s but never the less needy.

Keith gave his genuine smile, “After all these years, after all these fights, Lance we could have doing this ages ago and you choose my death day?” Keith laughs.

“Don’t say that.”

“It was inevitable.”

“Yeah maybe when you’re old and wrinkly but not when you’re just some kid who was given the entire universe and all of its possibilities just to have some stray bullet come in and fuck everything over.” (Maybe instead of being nearly drowned by some Galra soldier he could have been productive. Maybe instead of trying to salvage all that’s left of his compassion he should have stepped up and taken a more affirmative order and scouted to make sure everything was okay...but no.)

Lance brought both his hands to Keith’s face, “I’m so sorry that I-”

“Don’t you dare apologize.”

All was quiet again. Nothing could even be heard by the troops who would take longer pauses when marching past their captain and commander. Suddenly it was too quiet.

"Keith I swear to all the gods in the heavens if you-”

His eyes were glossed, lips white, face ghostly. He was gone, in an instant. There were no tears left to fall, all he could do was keep fighting. That’s all soldiers are good for anyway. Keith’s comrades circled the two, looking to Lance for their next order. (That’s all war is right? Follow the leader till the leader is dead)

Lance picked up the lifeless body of his everything and marched. He found his way to the end of the lake shore where all the bodies were piled and given wooden coffins as they were shipped across the water. He laid Keith down, and turned back, _and marched on._

**Author's Note:**

> The title was inspired by Ellie Goulding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDhfb8mSuH8


End file.
